


Change of Pace

by orphan_account



Series: Tactical Necessity [10]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Sky has feelings, a spicy chapter, a tiny bit of canon typical sword fighting but honestly nothing too bad because its Jeen, lots of feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-04 02:29:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20463530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: If the goddesses wanted all nine of them to be together, Sky didn't believe any of them should be left out.





	Change of Pace

_ Master why haven’t you told the other masters the truth? _

It was hard being one of the only wielders of the Master Sword who could speak directly to the spirit resting inside. They all thought he was strange for being so protective of the sword, especially after his reaction to Wild when the sword  _ disintegrated in his hands. _

He couldn’t really help that aspect of it. The Master Sword was something he created. He forged the sword with the sacred flames and Hylia’s blessings. So he felt justifiably angry when it disappeared into thin air. 

Of course this wasn’t really the issue at hand.

Something only he and Fi really knew was a little secret about the sword Legend carried on his back. The strange orange sword had always felt a little familiar, and in due time he realised this was the Master Sword. And upgraded version of it but still the Master Sword nonetheless.

Being the creator of the sword he could feel the pull of its power. As much as he wanted this to be an easy task, he knew the sword wasn’t in the witch’s hut. It was in the direction of something far more dangerous should they wish to engage. After all, many of them were quite angry the last time they saw Legend. Seeing them all, as it was, definitely wasn’t a good idea.

_ Master I request that you quit ignoring me. _

They were so close to the witch’s hut. With the only thing standing between them being the graveyard and his own regrets, they were so close to a dead end.

Why was he stalling? Red and Vio insisted the intention of Time’s plan was to take out Legend on his own as silently and discreetly as possible. He wasn’t sure how that would go over with Twilight, despite the young man being close with Time he also had a large moral compass. The ‘pup’ as Time would call him didn’t take to nonsense too well and as far as Sky was concerned Time’s plan was nonsense.

_ Master- _

“Will you SHUT UP?!” Sky shouted. 

The Chosen Hero’s outburst, while slightly embarrassing, brought him back to reality. He unclenched his fists, which in all honesty he had no idea were balled up so tightly. If it weren’t for his arm bracers he was sure his nails would have dug pretty far into his palms.

Understandably, everyone stared at him with various forms of confusion or shock etched on their faces. The Master Sword on his back chimed quietly, almost as if the sword spirit residing inside was mocking him.

She was.

“I apologize for my outburst,  _ someone _ doesn’t know when she should stop speaking.” the Chosen hero said, bowing his head so no one could see him shooting a glare towards his sword.

“Is the sword speaking to you again? You usually heed her advice, is something wrong?” Warriors asked taking a hesitant step towards Sky. 

The sword chimed once again. Though Fi spoke no real words Sky already knew what she was doing. It was the final straw. Sky was already nearly at the snapping point and his sword’s incessant pestering wasn’t making anything better.

“As I’m sure you’re all well aware of by now I can speak to the spirit that resides in the Master Sword. I regret not telling you this sooner, however the sword Legend carries also speaks to me. They are the same sword.” he began.

What followed was exactly what Sky was trying to avoid. The whispering between the Fours, Warriors’ unmoving expression, the fire in Hyrule’s eyes all because yet again someone was keeping secrets from them. As broken apart as the band of Links were, falling even further was something Sky refused to have. 

And here he was, the one that caused everything to happen.

“If you knew this, why didn’t you tell us sooner? We could have saved  _ a lot _ of precious time, Sky.” Warriors spoke slow and firm, a hint of a warning played in the back of his voice. Sky recognized that tone, it was the same one he spoke to the younger knights with and the same voice the knights of Skyloft used on him once upon a time. Warriors was using his Captain voice. Sky already knew they weren’t playing around, but this only further solidified that fact.

Grinding his teeth together the hero of the Sky held his tongue. He was doing this for the land they stood on and for Zelda. He helped establish this land and he was going to stop at  _ nothing _ to make sure nothing horrible happened to it as long as he lived. 

He wasn’t ever going to go as far as Time, however whatever brought them all together likely  _ wanted _ this to happen. It wanted them to fall apart, to cause more internal conflict. The needed to band back together and save the fucking world not worry about who was a shadow clone or whatever. 

“I’m having second thoughts on our plan. We already know Twilight has a strong moral compass and I doubt he would let Time do anything to Legend.  _ If _ anything does wrong we know he’s perfectly capable of disarming the old man.” he snapped out. “And besides, all nine of us were brought together for a reason. What that reason is, I cannot say, however I’m certain we need  _ all of us _ including Legend and Wild. I honestly believe we’ve made a terrible mistake ignoring that Wild ran off.”

“Now that you mention is, his teleportation should only work in his Hyrule. I believe he mentioned it only working in range of his Sheikah Towers and Shrines. It shouldn’t have worked here.” Vio added in.

Sky exhaled a small sigh of relief. He was glad everyone wasn’t opposing him or blowing up like he expected them to. He understood it was justified for them to be angry themselves, however this outcome turned out far better than he imagined.

“But if it shouldn’t have worked, why did it? We can all see Legend’s Hyrule doesn’t have any towers or shrines, we’re way too far in the past for that.” Wind asked. The youngest hero had been so quiet Sky nearly forgot he was still there. Wind was either taking this far better than the rest of them, or so hard he’d fallen into complete silence. Regardless of which, Sky was concerned. It was a discussion for another day, however. They needed to get through one topic at a time.

As the words sunk in, the more they began to realise he was right. Wild’s technology shouldn’t have worked. To his own knowledge, they weren’t in any range for Wild’s slate to properly function.

“Something far greater than we ever imagined brought us together.” Hyrule quietly stated, taking the words right out of Sky’s mouth. 

From his spot Warriors cleared his throat, drawing attention to himself once more. “Sky, where should we go from here? Before you say anything while I am mildly disappointed you didn’t say something earlier I don’t wish for us to start an argument over it. I so agree we need all nine of us, however even as it is we have no idea where Wild could be and given the circumstances of his disappearance I doubt we’d be able to find him quick enough.” 

Dragging a hand down his face the Captain huffed, “What I mean to say is, where did you hear the sword?”

He could almost hear the distant ringing of the Master Sword as his gaze drifted towards the castle. The time it would take to get to the witch’s hut honestly was about the same amount as it would take to arrive at the castle gates should they stopped wasting time. Besides, he hated every moment being so close to the graveyard. Just being there sent a foreboding chill down his spine.

_ Master I sense a 75% chance that upon your arrival to the castle you shall face danger. _

How  ** _wonderful._ **

-

Honestly, the fact Warriors was as active in diplomatic issues as he was helped them out so much. While everyone currently present was either friends or, honestly whatever was going on with Hyrule, at least on friendly terms and nothing else. Warriors on the other hand, he was the Captain of her guard, and given the state of his Hyrule, he didn’t really have time for that. He was busy sitting in meetings and creating strategies with his princess.

And honestly it was perfect for their situation. Both with Fi’s warning and just general awareness of the situation, they all knew Legend’s Zelda would  _ not _ take well to their sudden appearance at all. Any help Warriors could give would be absolutely appreciated.

It was a little terrifying though, seeing this side of his friends. Sky missed when Legend and Warriors would make terrible, stupid bets with each other. Or when Wild and Hyrule got lost on some kind of adventure and Twil-, excuse him, Wolfie would have to go retrieve them from some dark cave. In all honesty he missed them just having  _ fun _ while on this confusing journey of merged worlds and unknown enemies.

Even if they did reunite, things still wouldn’t be the same.

“Halt!” the guards standing by the castle gates called, tightening the grip on their spears. Oh, it was blatantly obvious everyone knew. Understandably when strangers walked towards Hyrule Castle the guards may be weary however asking people to stop and already readying their weapons was not so ordinary. 

Warriors gave a sideways look to the rest of his companions. “Drop your weapons.” he commanded.

Before anyone could question him in a much quieter tone he whispered, “If you want them to trust us we have to show them we mean no harm to either the princess or Legend. And, as unfortunate as it is, the best way right now may be to do it unarmed.”

Fi’s warning still rang loud in clear in Sky’s mind. Of course she constantly gave him warnings like this whenever he entered a new area so it wasn’t too surprising. Still, given that she was always right, he was even more worried than before. Entering into danger completely unarmed was something he only experienced once, and even then he was sneaking around the volcano retrieving all his items again. Never had he truly been completely unarmed for so long.

But he trusted Warriors’ judgement. Warriors knew the diplomatic side of negotiations better than he ever would.

It took great effort for Sky, and the rest of the heroes besides Warriors, to hand their weapons to the guards. Even the things that weren’t always perceived as weapons. One thing Sky did notice, however, was that small dagger Warriors hid on him  _ somewhere _ did not show up in the pile of items the Captain owned.

Strange. He was the one telling them to lose all weapons so the guards would trust him.

They were reluctantly let into the castle, flanked by the very same men that took their weapons away. He could tell the guards were still  _ very _ suspicious of them. As unarmed as they were, minus Warriors apparently. 

As the castle’s large red doors opened, the immense feeling of dread overtook Sky once more. Fi buzzed within the Master Sword, begging her master to pick her up, danger was incoming. His fingers itched to grab the sword from the guards, to protect what remained of their family from whatever was coming.

Only one voice spoke to him though. Earlier that day he was certain two voices could be heard, one of them coming from the castle. However he only heard one.

Something was wrong.

Princess Zelda stood before them, arms crossed. Beside her was Ravio, standing a lot taller and prouder than Sky had ever seen. Though he had not seen Ravio much, he could tell something along the way gave him a huge boost of confidence. (Looking even closer he could see just how much the man looked like Legend.)

“You’re not who I called for. What are you doing here?” the princess asked, throwing all pleasantries aside.

Warriors was completely unphased. He’d been through much worse for much more and knew how to stand his ground. As the Captain spoke he kept his voice neutral, yet still you could hear the sincerity of his words. “We come unarmed, and only wish to speak to Link. We do not expect him to join us right now, only to speak. If necessary we will do it with all of you present. In all honesty I actually would prefer it. Despite everything, we still require his aid against a great evil. If you would let us princess, I wish to tell him that myself.”

The princess’s mouth pressed into a thin line. She looked over the eight Links before her, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly when they passed over Hyrule strangely enough. The Captain’s words didn’t seem to have moved her at all, she didn’t trust them. Sky couldn’t blame her. Ravio, however, was another story.

Ravio seemed like an easy-going person for the most part. He has a real knack for mooching money off of Legend, and tricking the hero into letting him use his house. Something about their adventure definitely made Ravio and Legend seem like a brotherly duo, even if Legend seemed highly annoyed with Ravio’s antics. So he was sure Ravio knew about Legend’s predicament. He was at the castle so he also knew of the  _ current _ issue regarding Legend. 

And yet still, Ravio looked like he believed Warriors’ words. 

“Well, gentlemen, I regret to inform you that he isn’t  _ here _ anymore.” the princess deadpanned.

“Is he okay at least?” Hyrule spoke up. 

The princess wore a similar expression to when she passed Hyrule over with a look. Something about it was very wrong to Sky. He couldn’t place why she was singling him out over everyone else. Could this be the warning Fi was trying to give him? Hyrule didn’t seem like the kind of person who would betray his friends.

“Well within the short time that I  _ have _ seen my brother he’s turned up to my castle on a broomstick terrified for his life, injured and apparently betrayed by his own allies.” Zelda replied, still speaking regally despite the venom in her words. “Tell me, how do  _ you _ think he is?”

Sky watched helplessly as the young hero retracted further into himself. Hyrule definitely took the whole thing the hardest of all of them, being Legend’s possible descendant and all. Perhaps Zelda knew this, somehow, and that’s why she chose to take most of her frustration out on him, as little as that frustration may be. 

The doors behind the eight Links opened once more. Into the castle strode a young man with flaming red hair. A strange blue hat sat on top of his head, wildly contrasting his hair. As he walked in the blue cape flew behind him as if for dramatic effect.

The man ignored the Links, stopping just before the princess. He removed his hat before bowing to the princess. “Princess Zelda, it’s an honour to see you again.”

“Welcome back to Hyrule, Prince Ralph.” Zelda responded in a far softer tone than anything she spoke to the Links with.

As the Prince arose once more, the air around them chilled. A voice, one Sky couldn’t truly identify echoed through the room, chuckling about an unheard joke. Despite not knowing who it was Sky felt like it was somehow  _ familiar. _ Where it came from he couldn’t quite place. 

_ Master there is a 89% chance this is the danger I sensed earlier. _ Fi frantically buzzed from within the sword once more.

“I see you’re all here. Well maybe not  _ all _ of you however this will have to do.” the unknown voice spoke.

He recognized that voice somewhere. Zelda, Ravio and Ralph all also seemed to feel the same way, however their reaction to it was far different. While Wind and Hyrule searches the room for the source of the voice, or the Fours standing back to back in a circle, or even Warriors instinctively reaching for where his sword would be the two nobles and Ravio all blanched at the sound of the mysterious voice.

“Don’t look so down, I’m not here for you. See I come bearing a gift for our kind and gracious heroes. You dropped this.” the voice mocked. Sky could practically see someone swooning while making the statement. It wasn’t something he should be worrying about at all though.

From the shadows, something dropped on the floor. A familiar brown rectangle that many had been missing for the past few days.

“Oh and Ravio? The princess sends her regards.” the voice spoke once more.

The man in purple’s shouts went unheard. Laughter bounced off the walls of the castle, turning the main hall into a horrendous cacophony of sound.

Slowly Wind walked over to where the brown object lay on the floor. His hand shook as he picked it up before shooting back up, looking between the object and the other Links repeatedly.

“It’s Wild’s Sheikah slate.” he confirmed.

Everyone turned to the princess. Ralph stood by her side holding up Zelda, who in all honestly looked like she was about to faint. The prince spoke quietly to the princess. Only catching a small bit of the conversation the most he could say was Ralph wanted to know what they should do. 

“Princess, if something happened to her Highness then what happened to Mr He- to Legend?” Ravio asked.

_ Master. _

“Princess Zelda, please, I understand you don’t trust us but we honestly do care about Legend. I need to know, where is he now?” Warriors asked, reaching forward as he stepped towards the princess.

For the third time, a chill went down Sky’s spine. He turned to look at the closest guardsman, and noticed something rather...odd. The expression on his face seemed to darken as the seconds ticked by. His eyes gave off an almost eerie purple glow. 

_ Master!! _

Everything around him seemed to slow down that very moment. Sky was barely aware of the shouting that began once more. The only thing he could focus on was the sound of a drawing sword while he’d left himself defenseless against danger.

_ Warriors knows what he’s doing.  _

_ Warriors knows what’s best. _

_ Warriors barely has enough time to react. _

Warriors doesn’t have to worry about anything. Sky saw nothing but a blur of red and the faint orange glow before the clang of two swords pierced through the room. He was barely given enough time to process what happened as the knight was disarmed by the one in red.

“Legend.” Wind quietly choked out.

**Author's Note:**

> hehehehehehehhehehe welcome back Legend.


End file.
